Even though it’s human nature for all of us to scrunch our noses at certain forms of Canadian politics, economics, climate, social issues, and stereotypes, we must admit that Canada is a pretty fantastic country to live in.

From 2015-2017, Gallup International spread around surveys in an attempt to figure out which country in the world is the happiest. Although Finland took the top spot, Canada came in as the seventh happiest country in the world. Other countries that came out ahead of our home and native land were Norway, Denmark, Iceland, Switzerland, and Netherlands.

Professor John Helliwell of the University of British Columbia, and co-editor of this year’s World Happiness Report, told CTV News Network: “It’s not surprising Canada is in the top ten. Canada is a bit of a beacon and it is in very good company.”

As it’s explained, the World Happiness Report 2018 ranks 156 countries by their happiness levels, and 117 countries by the happiness of their immigrant population.

“The report includes four chapters on migration, both internal (within-country) and international (cross-country),” reads a press release. “[It investigates] the happiness of migrants, their families left behind, and others living in the cities and countries receiving migrants.”

Explained Helliwell: “The most striking finding of this report is the remarkable consistency between the happiness of migrants and the locally born.”

He continued: “Although immigrants come from countries with very different levels of happiness, their reported life evaluations converge towards those of other residents in their new countries. Those who move to happier countries gain, while those who move to less happy countries lose.”

The United States of America came in 18th, four spots lower than it ranked last year.

“Governments are increasingly using indicators of happiness to inform their policy-making decisions,” offered this report’s co-editor, Jeffrey D. Sachs. “U.S. policymakers should take note. The U.S. happiness ranking is falling, in part because of the ongoing epidemics of obesity, substance abuse, and untreated depression.”

The United Nations Sustainable Development Solutions Network, with support from the Ernesto Illy Foundation, produced the World Happiness Report 2018.

-Adam Grant

On a recent episode of “theZoomer,” host Libby Znaimer was joined by a collection of diverse community leaders to discuss Canada’s sesquicentennial. You can watch this episode below.